What is Colchicine Worth? (6.23.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week a new colchicine FDA approval, rising rate of IgG4 related disease and what's the safest biologic?
News
Why Patients Don't Take Medicines
CDC
About 60% of adults aged 18 and over reported taking at least one prescription medication in 2021, with 36% reporting taking three or more. Out-of-pocket costs on retail drugs rose 4.8% to $63 billion in 2021.
FDA Approves Colchicine for CV Prevention
The FDA has approved colchicine (Lodoco) for cardiovascular prevention in adults with established atherosclerotic disease or multiple risk factors, making it the first anti-inflammatory medicine with such an indication.
Treatment Sequences Define Subphenotypes in RA Patients
An analysis of a large rheumatoid arthritis cohort sheds light on biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) clustering that may be used in management, as certain clusters of b/tsDMARD correlated with disease activity over time.
Are bDMARDs, tsDMARDs and biosimilar DMARDs cost effective?
Treatment advances with new biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs) and biosimilar DMARDs (bsDMARDs) have proven efficacy and safety; but does their increased cost yield commensurate benefits in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and high disease activity?
Cancer Risk From RA, Not the Drugs
While it is known that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients may be at risk for certain cancers, the question is which cancers and is this modified by therapy.
Abatacept Safety Outcomes Across 7 European Registries
A multinational registry analysis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving abatacept (ABA) has shown that the safety profile of ABA remains unchanged with no new or increased risks of infection or malignancy.
2023 EULAR Recommendations on Imaging in Crystal-Induced Arthritis
New recommendations on imaging for crystal-induced (gout, CPPD) arthritis (CiA) were presented at EULAR 2023 in Milan.
How Often Do You Monitor MTX? (6.16.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com, including new drug approval, a new SpA variant and new rules for methotrexate (MTX) monitoring and depression screening.
ACR Concerned with MedPAC’s Cutting Part B Reimbursement
ACR
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today expressed disappointment that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended yet another cut to physician reimbursement for infusing life-altering treatments as part of its June 2023 Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Healt
Higher Genetic Loads Linked to Worse Systemic Lupus
A Korean study of a large systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort shows by genomic analysis, that higher weighted genetic risk scores (wGRS) is associated with earlier SLE onset, higher anti–Sm antibody positivity, lupus nephritis and more diverse lupus manifestations.
